Duggan railway



(No Model.)

5 SheetsShe.et 5.

J. A. DU GGAN. RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patented June 11, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. DUGGAN, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BURNHAM & DUGGAN RAILWVAY APPLIANCE COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

RAI LROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,020, dated June 11, 1889.

Application filed July 17, 1886. Serial No. 208,288. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. DUGGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Switches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention consists of improvements upon the railroad-switch described in Letters Patent to me dated November 24, 1885, No. 330,87 8.

I make use of guard-rails and switch-rails having their ends securely fastened to prevent lateral or rotary movement, resting-upon solid bearings, and provided with joints, so that the middle portion of the rail may have a vertical movement. Instead of imparting the vertical movement to the switch-rail by a crank-shaft, as shown in my said patent, I accomplish the raising and lowering of the rail by means of operating-rods moving longitudinally and bent at the proper distance apart at angles, so as to form an incline on each side, which inclines pass under the movable rails, so as to depress the one and elevate the other, and thereby accomplish the switching from the main track to the siding and from the siding to the main track.

Other improvements upon the switch described in my said patent will be hereinafter described.

In the drawings I have shown in Figure l 4 aplan of my switch; Fig. 2, enlarged view of portion of the rails and adjustable elastic yoke; Fig. 3, enlarged longitudinal sectional elevation of Fig. 2 on line 2 z; Fig. 4, section on line 00 m, Fig. 3; Fig.'5, ,plan of crossarms and-solid blocks; Fig. 6, sectional elevation on line y y, Fig. 5; Fig. 7, section on same line, showing operating-bar thrown to the left; Fig. 8, plan of joints and slideblocks attached to rails; Fig. 9, section on line y y, Fig. 8; Fig. 10, plan of blocks, wedges, and incline; Fig. 11, section on line 25 t, Fig. 10,1ooking to the right of said figure; Fig. 12, an enlarged view of the strap connecting the operating or switch rod with the middle or switch rail, and Fig. 13 the construction of the joint connecting the parts I) and b and of the incline w. j

a Cb are the outside or stock rails. The middle or movable rails are made up of the sections 1) b b b b c c are the guard-rails.

I d cl are the switch or operating rods, which accomplish the raising and lowering of the rails by means of a longitudinal movement.

The mechanism for raising and lowering is shown in section in Figs. 6 and 7. A strap 0 is firmly attached to the middle rail and passes down under the operating-rod d. In Fig. 6 there is shown the strap on the left side under the rod and just above the incline d, and on the right side the strap is below theincline d on that side. In this position the upper part (1 on the left side of the rod (Z supports the middle rail on that side, while the rod d, by means of the strap 0 on the right side, holds down the middle rail on that side.

\Vhen it is desired to elevate the right-hand middle rail and depress the other, the rod d is moved to the left, as shown in Fig. 7. As the rod d is moved the strap on the left side passes down the incline d, pulling down the middle rail on that side by means of the strap until the strap is under the part 61 of the rod, when the middle rail is held at its lowermost point. At the same time the strap on the right side, which has before held down the middle rail on that side, passes up the incline d, the middle rail being pushed up by the upper face of'the incline, and the movement continues until the middle rail on the left side is at its lowest point, when the middle rail on the right side is raised so as to be on a level with the outer and guard rails and supported by the part (1 of the rod (1. This position of the middle rails, straps 0 0, and operating-rod d is shown in Fig. 7. The pieces f, connected. by arms f to the rod d, Fig. 5, pass under the middle rail,'which is to be held up, sliding 5 upon side projections or flanges on the chairs 1;, which flanges also furnish a bearing on which the pieces f rest, and thus a firm support is given to the middle rail.

In Fig. 1 I have shown on the left side the loo device for a rigid support, and on the other side I have shown an elastic support, of which an enlarged view is shown in Fig. 3. This consists of the yoke p, resting at each end on the springs r and secured by the bolt and nut s to the chair 1:, to which the several rails are attached, as shown in Figs. 9 and 11.

If it should be desired to stiffen the springs, it may be done by unscrewing the nut I, removing the bolt and spring, and inserting the washer u, and also by means of the nut t the spring may be adjusted so as to increase its stiffness, if desired.

The chair 1* is so constructed that the outside or stock rail. is supported upon a solid seat having braces v on the outside of the rail. The rail is held in position against these braces bybolts n n. The guard-rail is in like manner supported on its seat by braces, and also held in position by bolts, one of which is shown in Fig. 9. This chair, which has its entire bearing-surface upon a solid tie, is provided with a space (1 directly beneath the m iddle rail, which allows the rail to move up and down, as already explained.

It is obvious that the outside rail and guard rail are fixed and immovable, and the middle rail can only have avertical motion. The chairs n differ from the others in having a flange on which f slides and has a bearing, as above explained.

The middle rail h is made up of the following parts: the pieces 1), 12 Z), Z)", and If. The solid piece I) has no motion whatever. The short piece b is held firmly .in place, so as to allow of no lateral motion, by means of the long piece i and the piece 0 and bolts passing through from side to side, as shown in Fig. 10; but it has a vertical motionthat is, when the piece Z) is raised, as hereinafter explained, the front end of b is correspondingly raised, and for that purpose is provided with the joints 7c, formed by two pieces of metal 71;, placed in the hollow of the rail, one on each side and lapping over the joint between 11 and b and having a bolt passing through each end and through the pieces Z) and If, on which bolts the part b can turn, so as to adapt part b to U when the latter is raised. A similar jointis provided at the point where I) meets If, so that 11 moves down when I) descends and forms an incline.

The piece 7, extends across the joints k, so as to impart strength to the joints and prevent all sidewise motion. It is provided with a smooth face, which bears against the piece It, also provided with a smooth face, and is permanently fastened to the guard-rail. This arrangement obliges the middle rail to remain firmly in its position and allows it no motion but a vertical one. Just in front of the piece 0' is the space 71, and immediately in front of this space is the wedge which fills a space which would otherwise exist between the middle rail and the running side of the outside rail and would allow a wheelflange to press in between the outside rail and the middle rail, and thus force thelatter rail. laterally from its position; ltis securely fastened to the middle rail and hasits top on a level, or nearly so, with the top of themovable rail. The piece I) is also jointed by means of bolts at each end. It is so fixed as to have only a vertical motion and is directly acted upon by the operating-rod, which lifts it up on one side and depresses it on the other, as above explained. Midway of this center rail are two blocks y 3 for holding the center rail in position, so that it can move only vertically.

It will. be seen that when the piece Z) is depressed the piece 71 at one end and the piece I) at the other move downward, turning on the bolts forming their joints, and thusmake a slight incline from the solid and unmoving parts of the middle rail.

A part of the top of the piece Z1 of the middle rail is planed off on the back side, as shown in Fig. 10, so as to make the space narrow between the running side of the guardrail and the running side of the outside rail, in order to secure a bearing for narrow wheeltreads on the outside rail, and also to provide a space for the \\'l1e(, .l-flange to move in. The piece I) has also a part of its top planed off to give a space for the wheel-flange to pass between it and the outside rail. At one end of the piece U, Figs. 1 and 10, is an incline, which is made by planing off a part of the top of the rail, but so that the running side of the rail is left intact. The wedge which fills the space between the middle rail. and stock-rail. is also planed oil? at the top, the two surfaces thus planed otlj' lj'orming' the incline w.

l is a block rigidly fastened to the guardrail, and having a smooth vertical face and filling a part of the space between the guardrail and the movable rail.

Z a block or bar of su'liicient length to lap over the joint of the two parts of the middle rail and secured by the bolts 7". (Shown in Fig. 2.) Thispiece is enlarged in its central part, so as to fill the remaining space between the guard-rail and the middle rail, and is provided with a smooth face and adapted to have a vertical motion, moving with the part U of the middle rail, to which it is attached.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Referring to Fig. 1, which shows the switch placed for the passage of atrain in the direction of arrow 1 from the main track to the siding, if a train should come along the main track from the opposite direction, or heelon, as it is called, the wheel-flanges running in the space between the solid part of the TOO middle rail and the outside rails would bear upon the incline on the right-hand side and force the rail down, the yoke mounted upon the springs giving way for that purpose. On the other side the wheels lap over onto the outside rails in the ordinary manner, and

thus the train would pass through safclythat is, when theswitch is misplaced, being set for the siding, the wheels will force down the side which is mounted upon the springyoke and the wheels will run on the top of the rail on the other side. The weight is ordinarily supported on the outside or stock rail, the middle rail serving to guide and by means of the vertically-moving middle portion 11 to switch the train.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A switch having guard and stock or outside rails supported upon solid bearings, to which they are fixed so as to permit of no motion, in combination with a middle or switch rail having neither ends nor points, the switching being accomplished by raising the central portion of the switch-rail on one side and lowering iton the other, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

2. In a railroad-switch, a switch-rail having the middle part adapted to be raised andlowered and connected with sections of the switchrail which form inclines when the middle portion is lowered, the inclined parts being jointed at one end to the fixed section of the rail and at the other end to the verticallymoving middle part, substantially as and for the purpose abovedescribed.

3. The horizontally-moving operating-rods (Z, having thereon the inclines d cl, and the horizontal supporting-faces (1 01 in combination with the switch-rails and straps 0 0,substantially as and for the purpose above described.

4. The operating-rod, the switch-rail having neither ends nor points, the central portion of which is capable of being elevated and depressed throughout its entire length, and the arms f f, provided with the supportingpieces f f, in combination, substantially as described.

5. The operating-rod d, the yoke 10, the springs s s, and the switch-rails, in combination, substantially as described.

6. The yoke 19, the spring r,-bolt s, nut t, and washer u, in combination, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

7. The double chair '0, provided with outside braces and having a. central recess, in combination with the stock-rails and guardrails independently secured to said braces, respectively, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

8. The incline w, in combination with the switch-rail, the yoke 19, and the spring 4", substantially as and for the purpose above described.

9. The stock-rail lapping by the joint between b and 19 having its top substantially.

level with the switch-rail and bolted through the guard-rail, in combination with the guardrail, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

10. The blocks 2' and o, in combination with the parts I) and b of the middle rail, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

11. The vertically-sliding blocks 1' l, in combination with the guard and switch rails, substantially as and for the purpose above described. V

12. The blocks y y, in combination with the middle rail, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

13. The pieces 71; Jc, in combination with the pieced and the parts I) b substantially as and for the purpose above described.

JOHN A. DUGGAN.

Witnesses:

EsrELLA BARRY, CHAS. H. DREW. 

